A Medium-N Approach to Macroeconomic Forecasting

20 Pages Posted: 10 Dec 2010

See all articles by Gianluca Cubadda

Gianluca Cubadda

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Department of Economics and Finance

Barbara Guardabascio

University of Rome Tor Vergata

Date Written: December 9, 2010

Abstract

This paper considers methods for forecasting macroeconomic time series in a framework where the number of predictors, N, is too large to apply traditional regression models but not sufficiently large to resort to statistical inference based on double asymptotics. Our interest is motivated by a body of empirical research suggesting that popular data-rich prediction methods perform best when N ranges from 20 to 50. In order to accomplish our goal, we examine the conditions under which partial least squares and principal component regression provide consistent estimates of a stable autoregressive distributed lag model as only the number of observations, T, diverges. We show both by simulations and empirical applications that the proposed methods compare well to models that are widely used in macroeconomic forecasting.

Keywords: Partial Least Squares, Principal Component Regression, Dynamic Factor Models, Data-Rich Forecasting Methods, Dimension-Reduction Techniques

Suggested Citation

Cubadda, Gianluca and Guardabascio, Barbara, A Medium-N Approach to Macroeconomic Forecasting (December 9, 2010). CEIS Working Paper No. 176, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1722638 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1722638

Gianluca Cubadda (Contact Author)

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Department of Economics and Finance ( email )

Via Columbia n.2
Roma, 00133
Italy

Barbara Guardabascio

University of Rome Tor Vergata ( email )

Via di Tor Vergata
Rome, Lazio 00133
Italy

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